Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures her Department has committed to in 2023 to increase film production in Ireland; if she will support future investment along the Wild Atlantic Way following the huge success of a film (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3628/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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My Department's priorities are set out in its published Statement of Strategy 2021—2023. The overarching goal is to ensure the “sectors recover and grow in a manner that underpins social cohesion and supports strong, sustainable economic growth, with a focus on a number of cross cutting goals of equality, diversity, social inclusion, the Irish language and environmental sustainability”. The Strategy sets out the actions that my Department will take over the coming period, both nationally and regionally, to enrich the quality of life in Ireland through supporting the development of tourism, culture, arts, sports, media and Irish language. In addition to their immense inherent value, these are valued by all of our communities as important resources for social cohesion, individual and community wellbeing and for the presentation of Ireland as an attractive destination for tourism and sustainable inward investment.

The Audio-visual Action Plan was launched in June 2018. This is an industry-wide, long-term plan, under the Creative Ireland Programme, developed to support the Government’s ambition to enable Ireland to become a global hub for the production of film, TV drama and animation.

The tax incentive for the screen industries, Section 481, has been a cornerstone of the Irish screen industry in the creative and cultural value it has generated, both in terms of discovering and supporting new Irish voices, as well as showcasing Ireland’s power as an international partner, a cultural force across film, television and animation, not to mention a breath-taking location offering historic and natural beauty making it an attractive base for film locations.

Screen Ireland is the national development agency for Irish filmmaking and the Irish film, television and animation industry, investing in talent, creativity and enterprise. The agency supports writers, directors and production companies across these sectors by providing investment loans for the development, production and distribution of film, television and animation projects. The Screen Ireland allocation for 2019 was €20m and their budget has increased significantly to €37.9m in 2023.

Screen Ireland's approach includes a focus on the development of a significant skills ecosystem in the regions within its own dedicated unit for skills development. Supports incorporate skills development training, work-based learning and career progression, underlining the commitment to development and upskilling for the screen industry. One of its priorities is training and upskilling to ensure there are trained crews available throughout the regions and Screen Ireland is committed to investing significantly in screen training.

The objective of the Regional Uplift 2019 to 2023 is to incentivise the development of new, local pools of talent in areas outside the current main production hubs, including along the west coast, by supporting productions that locate in areas without existing talent pools and that incur additional costs in training local talent and encourage the geographic spread of the audiovisual sector beyond the current traditional production hubs in Dublin and Wicklow. Productions operating in the regions can avail of an additional 2% in film tax relief in 2023.

I was delighted to note earlier this week, the record number of Irish Oscar nominees for the upcoming 95th Academy Award ceremony, and indeed Ireland's recent success at the Golden Globes and Berlin Film Festival. This is testament to the talent that exists in the Irish industry and I am pleased also that many of the productions in question have been supported through the measures I have outlined above.